Barack Obama and the visiting Israeli prime minister, Binyamin Netanyahu, capped a turbulent few weeks for mutual relations with unusually low-profile White House talks last night featuring no information about what was discussed or even a public handshake.

The pair had an initial 90-minute meeting in the Oval Office that is likely to have been dominated by a row over Israeli plans to build new settler homes in Arab-dominated east Jerusalem. The dispute has seen the countries' relations undergo their most turbulent period for some years.

After a break, Netanyahu requested further discussions and he and the US president returned to the Oval Office for another 35 minutes.

Neither leader, nor their officials, would comment on what was said, although Netanyahu's spokesman said that "the atmosphere was good". More unusually still, no reporters or photographers were invited to see the traditional pre-meeting handshakes, with the duo not seen together publicly at all.

The Israeli leader's visit comes a fortnight after his government announced the plan for 1,600 new homes in east Jerusalem, an area annexed by Israel in 1967 in a move still not recognised by the US or other nations. Palestinian leaders, who claim east Jerusalem as the capital of a future state, responded by delaying new US-sponsored peace talks.

Obama and his administration were enraged by the timing of the announcement, coinciding with a visit to Israel by the US vice-president, Joe Biden, and seen as deeply embarrassing to Israel's most loyal international ally.

Despite the US anger, Netanyahu has insisted throughout his three-day visit that he will not back down over the issue.

Obama's secretary of state, Hillary Clinton, has stressed that whatever the differences over the settlements, overall US support for Israel is solid, while warning Netanyahu that his country faces difficult choices if it wants a lasting peace. The pair met on Monday without aides at the Israeli PM's hotel suite.

Yesterday Netanyahu had a warm public reception from the House of Representatives and Senate. "We in Congress stand by Israel," the Democrat leader of the House, Nancy Pelosi, said. "In Congress we speak with one voice on the subject of Israel."

"We have no stronger ally anywhere in the world than Israel," said the House Republican leader, John Boehner. "We all know we're in a difficult moment. I'm glad the prime minister is here so we can have an open dialogue."

Amid the focus on Washington, the US Middle East peace envoy, George Mitchell, returned home yesterday after shuttling between Israeli and Palestinian officials in the hope of resurrecting indirect peace talks.